When two Hollywood heavyweights hit the big screen together, we can expect nothing less than "The Movie Blatantly Geared For The Oscars Even Before Opening In Theatres." Sean Penn and Jude Law belong to that race of actor lounging atop the Tinseltown A-list. This actor achieves that elusive balance between ferocious talent and notoriety, though we know full well he's too damned entertaining on-screen and off to ever be relegated elsewhere.
All the King's Men is loosely based on the volatile career of assassinated Louisiana governor Huey Long. He's rewritten as politician Willie Stark (Sean Penn) as seen through the eyes of his right-hand man Jack Burden (Jude Law). As a remake of the 1949 film that's based on a Robert Penn Warren novel, there's nothing terribly groundbreaking about a man's gradual transformation from idealistic "hick politician" into dirt-digging machine once in a position of power.
Penn, however, can be counted on to slide into character with near-diabolical relish. In early scenes Stark chooses pop over beer because "his wife don't favor drinking," speaks passionately of building schoolhouses for the poor and works as a salesman amongst both the black and white members of his parish. He fervently believes in representing the poor and weak. But that shock of hair and all-knowing lip-curl darkly signal that this is one man whose fiery bellyful of class vengeance will be released whichever way he finds, regardless of implications.
Despite boasting an ensemble cast (including Kate Winslet as Anne Stanton, Jack's childhood friend and one-time lover, and Anthony Hopkins as Judge Irwin, Jack's godfather), only Law commands enough presence to stand outside of Penn's shadow. Jack is the ethically flexible ex-journalist who becomes Stark's most useful pawn
Read More
The best albums of 2014
By Noah Zeidman | December 4, 2014Across genres, it has been a pretty great year in music.
Top 10 movies of 2014
December 4, 2014This has been an excellent year for film, offering everything from gripping blockbusters to innovative personal films.
Iggy Azalea is “Reclassified”
December 4, 2014It has become common practice among music artists to repackage their albums in an effort to simultaneously boost single sales and dish out new content by slightly renaming the album or slapping “Deluxe” onto the title.
